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02-29-2008, 08:40 PM #21
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I searched Youtube, but I could not find any video yet.
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02-29-2008, 09:04 PM #22
2/29/2008
Last Update: 2/28/2008 11:41:00 PM
Students, police, school officials differ in account of unrest in Reading
Last Update: 2/28/2008 11:41:00 PM
Students, police, school officials differ in account of unrest in Reading
Reading High students say their pride and enthusiasm were misinterpreted. The police chief says officers acted only when residents complained about property damage. The principal says there was no disturbance near the school.
By Steven Henshaw
Reading Eagle
Reading, PA - Reading High School 10th-grader Carolin Mateo was bursting with pride and inspiration when she left school Wednesday after hearing a speaker from her native Dominican Republic tell students how lucky they are to live in the land of opportunity.
The speaker, Rafael A. Nunez of Reading, told how he left the Dominican Republic for the United States seven years ago on a boat with 63 people.
He told of how the boat capsized and 50 people died. And of how he survived, went on to earn several college degrees and a pilot’s license and was invited to train with NASA.
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Click here to watch students and city residents discuss the demonstrations.
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High school administrators invited Nunez to give motivational talks as part of the first formal program the school has held to recognize the Dominican Republic’s independence day.
"He came from nothing to everything," Mateo said of Nunez. "It just motivated the students to better themselves."
Mateo, who came to the United States when she was 2, was among the many Dominican-born students attending Reading High who heard Nunez’s talk.
By all accounts, hundreds of other Dominican students left the school just before 3 p.m., waving Dominican flags and chanting.
The situation deteriorated as the students walked along North 13th Street toward Douglass Street and the crowd swelled from hundreds to more than 1,000, according to police.
Police cite eight people
Police said they cited six juveniles and two young men on disorderly conduct charges, including a 17-year-old boy who threw a glass bottle in front of police in the 700 block of North 13th Street.
Capt. Edward J. Kosmerl Jr. was struck on the side of the head by a rock at 13th and Green streets near the end of the 11/2-hour procession, which went down Douglass Street toward Ninth Street, then to Spring Street.
Kosmerl, who was treated in Reading Hospital, has declined comment.
Some students, including Mateo, said they were doing nothing other than enthusiastically celebrating their heritage. She said she saw no violence caused by students.
"It was like any other regular day, the same number of students (at dismissal)," Mateo said. "The only difference (was) there was a group of students with flags that stood out of the rest of the crowd."
Mateo said the situation became unruly when police started arresting people for what she called no good reason.
"They would pick people out of the crowd, ... slam them to the floor or against police cars and handcuff them," she said. "That then started the crowd to go louder and louder."
Chief: Police used restraint
Police Chief William M. Heim said he reviewed radio transmissions regarding the melee and is convinced officers acted properly and with restraint.
He said police were content to allow the celebration to go on, even though students were breaking the law by standing in the street.
It was only after residents complained about property damage that police decided to move the crowd, he said.
Heim also said some students went onto residents’ porches.
Juan C. Ceballo, a 10th-grader of Dominican descent, said the students were marching, not rioting.
The people who caused trouble had nothing to do with celebrating Dominican independence, he said.
"Those kids had nothing to do with us," he said. "It’s a disgrace."
High School Principal Wynton Butler said he was dismayed that the Reading Eagle characterized the situation as a riot at the school.
Any disturbances that occurred after dismissal occurred down the street from the school, he said.
"Four thousand students leave the building every day," Butler said. "It looks like the same thing except there are no flags."
Security video reviewed
Jonathan D. Encarnacion, executive director of the Daniel Torres Hispanic Center, said he and a group of Latino leaders met at the high school Thursday afternoon to view a video of the melee captured on the school’s security cameras.
"It was quite striking," he said. "The video definitely showed a different story than what was in the paper."
Encarnacion said the video showed about 250 students gathering in front of a business across the street from the high school.
"Just out of the blue you see squad cars coming out all over the place," he said. "There’s no doubt in my mind things could have been handled differently by the police."
Encarnacion added that he hoped police and the school district could increase cooperation and mutual understanding.
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City, school officials meet
That was the purpose of another meeting Thursday afternoon between school officials, police and Mayor Tom McMahon.
"I got together at City Hall with school officials to talk about the incident and see what transpired," McMahon said. "I wanted to get their input. Mostly it was productive. We wanted to look forward. We wanted to see if there were things we could learn from it for the future."
McMahon said he stressed that communication between the city and the school district is essential.
"We need to continue to improve communication linkages," he said. "Both sides recognize that. The school district knows its responsibility to the community."
William J. Knowles, who oversees security as the district’s assistant director of facilities, conceded the students were in high spirits and that their exuberance did not diminish when they were dismissed.
But, he said, they were not out of control as they spilled out into the 700 block of North 13th Street.
‘Elation ... misinterpreted’
"Their elation, pride and enthusiasm when they came out of the building wasn’t out of control, but it was misinterpreted," Knowles said.
However, one veteran city policeman said Wednesday that the demonstration was unprecedented and created one of the scariest situations he’s seen in his career.
Students who participated in the celebration saw it differently.
Merelyn C. Janse, 17, a senior of Dominican descent, said students were a little hyped up but were not acting aggressively toward police.
"Instead of riot, they (the newspaper) should have used ‘hyped,’ " she said.
"It only happens once a year," she said of the independence celebration.
Sorangel Rucker, a high school vice principal, said she and another administrator came up with the idea for the assembly as a way of formally recognizing Dominican independence and motivating students.
She said 80 percent of the more than 4,100 students at Reading High are Latino and that the majority of them are Dominican.
Not all students agreed that what happened after school Wednesday was just a celebration.
After dismissal Thursday, ninth-grader Christina C. Evans said she would characterize what she saw and heard as a riot.
‘I’d call it a riot’
"There’s a whole bunch of people screaming, ‘Dominicano!’ " she said. "Next thing you know, I hear all these other people yelling. I’d call it a riot because they were all jumping up and down, yelling things."
The first sign of trouble occurred about 2:55 when police saw a group of youths smashing a car with a baseball bat in the 600 block of North 12th Street, Heim said.
About 15 minutes later, he said, police received a call from a crossing guard at 13th and Douglass streets who needed help because the crowd in the streets was blocking traffic.
Most of those who were cited by police ignored repeated orders to move out of the street or interfered with the arrests of others, investigators said.
Heim said the situation escalated and that people became more confrontational when a 19-year-old man jumped up and hit an overhead sign with a fake machete.
Police said they didn’t know the knife was fake at the time.
Meanwhile, Nunez, the assembly speaker, said he was upset that people may think his message was negative because of what happened outside the school.
"What I’m telling them is that you live in a place of opportunity and you have to take advantage of that," Nunez said.
(Reporters Michelle Park and David Mekeel contributed to this article).
• Contact reporter Steven Henshaw at 610-371-5028 or shenshaw@readingeagle.com.
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=82260"Distrust and caution are the parents of security."
Benjamin Franklin
Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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02-29-2008, 09:10 PM #23
VIDEOS
Lunchtime violence at Reading High School
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5-0Nc9byYJoin our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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02-29-2008, 09:12 PM #24
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Same old story. The poor hispanic students were the innocent victims while the police were the aggressors, as usual. Same old song and dance from these people. Why do we even bother to ask them their side of the story when it never changes.
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02-29-2008, 09:16 PM #25Kosmerl was standing on the corner with another officer when a crowd of about 100 youths waving Dominican flags passed on the sidewalk, investigators said.
A few seconds later, a golf-ball size rock thrown by someone in the group hit Kosmerl on the side of the head, police saidJoin our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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02-29-2008, 09:23 PM #26
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- Jan 1970
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Here's another promoter for "Latino" assistance:
http://www.umos.org/corporate/contact.aspx
Milwaukee
Corporate Headquarters
2701 S. Chase Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53207
Phone: (414) 389-6000
Toll Free: 1-800-279-8667
Fax: (414) 389-6047
UMOS Job Center South-east
2701 S. Chase Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53207
Phone414) 389-6600
UMOS Job Center Central
4030 N. 29th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53216
Phone: (414) 486-5200
Corporate Events
OverviewCinco de Mayo
Springfest
UMOS Back to School Fair
Mexican Independence
Hispanic Awards
BanquetBreakfast with Santa
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Mind you, I do not have problems for those who are here legally but you'll see the whole array of services they are providing if you click on the links on the left side of the page.From the Border Movie:
I will not sell my country out ~ I WILL NOT!
I'd like to see that pride back in AMERICA!!!
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02-29-2008, 09:49 PM #27Georeno said a group of students he described as jubilant unfurled a Dominican flag as they left the school and held an impromptu parade.
He said school officials did not intervene because the students were orderly and peaceful as they left school property.
The crowd marched through the area for about 90 minutes before breaking up.
Kosmerl was injured near the end of the demonstration, which progressed from the school at 13th and Douglass streets, down Douglass to Eighth Street, over to Green Street and up Spring Street to 10th and 11th streets, police said.
Many students waved red, white and blue Dominican flags and wore red shirts as they paraded.
Students shook their fists and yelled as cars passed."Distrust and caution are the parents of security."
Benjamin Franklin
Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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02-29-2008, 11:41 PM #28Code:
High school administrators invited Nunez to give motivational talks as part of the first formal program the school has held to recognize the Dominican Republic’s independence day. "He came from nothing to everything," Mateo said of Nunez. "It just motivated the students to better themselves."
They administrators should be fired and the school had better make this the first and LAST formal program recognizing any foreign country's independence day. Yes, we can tell how proud and motivated they were. They had no business going on private property. I didn't realize they consider smashing a car's window with a bat as "hype" and not vandalism. Throwing a bottle at a cop is not "hyped" it's assault. No way can you "misinterpret" some moron brandishing a machete (real or not) in any street in the US. He was lucky he wasn't shot. I feel badly for Mr. Nunez, who was telling these kids they were lucky they had it so easy and to be glad they live in AMERICA. He left the DR to get away from it. Instead of getting the message, they totally "misinterpreted" him and incite a riot? Yeah I can see their pride and it's a disgrace!Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
"
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02-29-2008, 11:57 PM #29
I just posted a thread about violence breaking out at a Miami High School too.
Link:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breakin ... 38888.htmlJoin our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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03-01-2008, 12:02 AM #30
"Little Haiti"
Yes. bad riot in "little haiti" the last couple of days. I was reading...it said that high school has only 1/3 graduates who come out able to read. This is what the USA has become. Pathetic. Pathetic. If you want your children to get an education...please do not send them to government schools.
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